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Action-adventure games are a gaming genre that balance a fun world for players to experience the story and engaging action elements through some expertly designed combat mechanics. Along with RPGs and competitive multiplayer titles, action-adventure offerings are some of the most sought-after.
The monopoly on action-adventure games is generally controlled by the AAA studios, which churn out these titles almost once every year. And yet, sometimes, certain independent studios release a product that ends up being popular enough to be compared to the industry’s big names due to excellence in story and gameplay.
In the last few years, such indie action-adventure games have been released that gained lots of attention and have been commended for their achievements.
Note: This article reflects the writer’s opinions.
Five indie action-adventure games comparable to AAA releases
1) The Forgotten City
Released as a full game of itself, The Forgotten City initially started life as an extensive mod for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. It was created by veteran mod designer Nick Pearce, who released the mod in 2016.
Since then, he has found the developer studio known as Modern Storyteller, which worked on the complete version of this title.
The Forgotten City came out on July 28, 2021, and is an action-adventure game that saw the protagonist being transported to an ancient Roman civilization hidden underneath Rome. In this city, players can talk to various intricately designed NPCs and pick up quests from them, completing which can progress the larger narrative.
Played in a first-person perspective, this action-adventure title offers some minimal combat, specific to certain parts of the title or a quest. Users can use a repeating time loop to learn new things and affect the story once the loop resets every time, choosing to save a character from death, and lead others to their doom.
2) Hollow Knight
This Metroidvania action-adventure game was released on February 24, 2017, for PC and was later ported to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, in 2018. Hollow Knight was developed by indie studio Team Cherry, who wanted to delve into the spirit of the old-school platformers from the early 90s.
It sees a nameless Knight arrive in the kingdom of Hallownest, which has been ravaged by a plague known as ‘The Infection.’ It has now escaped its confinement and threatens to spread worldwide, an eventuality that the Knight must prevent.
Users must find and unlock the source of The Infection and finish it off once and for all.
In this 2D platformer, they take control of The Knight and fight through hordes of infected and various bosses across different stages. Certain game areas might be initially locked, which can be accessed later after obtaining new skills or items.
Various NPCs also pop up across the title, which can assist the character in numerous ways.
3) Ori and the Blind Forest
Ori and the Blind Forest is an action-adventure platformer developed by Moon Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. This game was released on March 11, 2015, for Windows and Xbox One and in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch.
Its story was inspired by The Lion King and The Iron Giant. The protagonist is Ori, a white guardian spirit in the forest of Nibel.
After the death of their foster parent, Naru, in a drought, Ori heads out into the forest and meets the Sein, the ‘light and eyes’ of the Spirit Tree. Sein tasks Ori to recover the elements’ light to restore the forest.
As gamers take control of Ori and Sein, they must traverse the various areas of the forest, collecting items and gaining different abilities. Enemies can be fought using Sein, who can shoot Spirit Flames as an offensive measure. New skills allow players to access previously locked-off areas in a Metroidvania style.
4) Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Developed and published by Ember Lab, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an action-adventure game released on September 1, 2021, for the PS4, PS5, and Windows PC. The game sees Kena, the protagonist, use her magical powers to aid the deceased spirits on their way to the spirit world.
Kena is a young spirit guide who journeys to an abandoned village searching for a fabled Mountain Shrine. Along the way, she meets with the game’s antagonist, an evil spirit who has caused corruption to spread in the forest, leading to its decay.
Per the directions from her former Elder, Kena must help all the deceased affected by the corruption before she will be granted passage into the shrine.
Played from a third-person perspective, users take control of Kena and travel across numerous areas connected by a hub world. They will be tasked with collecting Rot, tiny creatures that can be directed to perform specific actions.
In combat, Kena uses her staff or melee attacks, and once upgraded, she can transform the former into a bow to perform ranged strikes.
5) It takes Two
It might be surprising to hear, but Hazelight Studios, the developers behind It Takes Two, is an indie studio only recently founded by Josef Fares in 2014. This title is only their second game, with their first being A Way Out.
It Takes Two was released on numerous platforms on March 26, 2021, and won the Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2021.
This action-adventure platformer saw two parents being sent into the bodies of miniature dolls, who must then try their best to return to their normal bodies. This takes the two on a journey of self-discovery as they learn new things about each other and themselves.
The game occurs across a series of microenvironments scattered about the protagonist’s house.
Like Hazelight’s previous game, It Takes Two also does not contain a single-player option requiring two gamers to play this either in couch split-screen co-op or online co-op. A linear game, set across various levels, it will task them to work together to solve problems and find a way to victory, a feat that just any one player cannot accomplish.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author’s opinion.
